On Thursday, Cricket Australia (CA) named Marsh and Hazlewood as twin deputies to Test captain Paine. The two were shortlisted after a player poll and presentation to a panel comprising coach Justin Langer, Greg Chappell, Mark Taylor, CA Board chairman David Peever, high performance manager Pat Howard, chief of selectors Trevor Hohns and psychologist Dr. Michael Lloyd.

“With no aspirations to be captain you can have a really good relationship there. Then Mitch and myself can do everything we can to make Painey’s (Paine) job as easy as possible,” Hazlewood was quoted as saying by foxsports.com.au on Thursday. “Having someone as vice-captain who’s not necessarily aspiring to be captain — that’s the position I find myself in, I think. I can really contribute as a leader and as a vice-captain without pushing that next level.”

Hazlewood said the shared responsibilities will work out well for the team considering the amount of cricket Australia are going to play. “I think it will work well. It’s obviously a bit different but it’s modern times I guess. Through the amount of cricket we’re going to play, and myself as a quick whether I’m missing games or resting, it’s good to have one in the team who can step up on that occasion,” the 27-year-old said.

So who – Hazlewood or Marsh – replaces Paine in case of injury or if he’s dropped? “I guess that’s an interesting one. If that does happen then I guess we’ll have to talk about it. But Mitch has obviously done a lot of captaincy in the past for Western Australia and even through the junior levels. I wouldn’t mind filling in for a session or two here or there. I think it’s tough on a cricketer to be a full-time captain,” he replied.

Editorial team of CricketCountry.

First Published on September 27, 2018 1:58 PM ISTLast updated on September 27, 2018 1:58 PM IST